Thursday, August 27, 2009

Risks of medicine

When a person uses a particular medication for a long period of time, he or she may develop a tolerance. This is a process in which your body needs more and more of a medicine to get the same effect. In some cases, the medicine loses its effectiveness altogether and the doctor will need to prescribe a different medication.

Overuse is another problem. The more an antibiotic is used, the less effective it becomes. Why? Bacteria build up a resistance to antibotics with frequent exposure. They adapt to the antibiotic. Bacteria can also develop a resistance when antibiotics are not taken as prescribed. For example, if the prescription label says to take the medicine for 14 days and you stop after 7 days, the bacteria may still be present and could make you feel sick again.

Medicines should always be used wisely and only as directed. Finally, taking two or more medicines at once can be dangerous. Always let your doctor and pharmacist know what other medicines you are taking before starting a new medicine.